Lishou Wang, a Chinese citizen, is trying to avoid deportation on the grounds that he was persecuted for resisting China’s decades-old population control policy before coming to the U.S. Recently, a federal appeals court kept his case alive.

Two men who were sentenced to life in prison after committing crimes as juveniles recently lost an appeal for new sentences, despite their argument that a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibits mandatory life sentences against juveniles.

Oct. 30, 2015 – Tabitha A. Scruggs was convicted for burglary, and the court imposed a $250 DNA surcharge on her at her sentencing. Scruggs filed a motion asking for the $250 DNA surcharge to be vacated, as she felt it was punitive and violated the ex post facto clauses of the U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions.

Oct. 28, 2015 – At her sentencing hearing for possession of heroin, Courtney Sobonya requested expungement of her criminal record. She was 23 when she was charged with five drug-related crimes, and pleaded guilty to heroin possession.

Oct. 26, 2015 – While most verbal harassment may not rise to the level “cruel and unusual punishment” in a prison setting, some may, and courts need to consider all the facts when evaluating such cases.

Oct. 20, 2015 – In a case of unintended consequences, an insurance policy endorsement on pollution was found ambiguous and summary judgment was reversed for an insurance company seeking not to provide coverage to its insured.

A state appeals court has ruled that a former commercial tenant can avoid liability for injuries that occurred on property the tenant recently vacated because the tenant was considered a “vendor” under Wisconsin law.

A state appeals court has upheld a child pornography conviction, rejecting defendant David Gant's claim that police violated his constitutional rights by holding his computers in police inventory for 10 months after closing an investigation into his wife's death.

Rockie Douglas was arrested and jailed while on probation, but refused to tell his probation agent about his “whereabouts and activities” relating to the arrest. Recently, a state appeals court ruled that Douglas’s probation was improperly revoked.

A state appeals court has ruled that “commuting” a defendant’s sentence to address plea hearing violations does not remove a defendant’s right to withdraw his or her plea, despite the state’s argument in favor of this alternative standard.

A state appeals court recently used the “incorporation-by-reference” doctrine to end, for now, a lawsuit by a former forensic scientist who alleged that a supervisor within the Wisconsin Department of Justice retaliated against him.

A man named Douglas believes he could be the father of a baby born into a marriage. A circuit court dismissed his paternity action, but a state appeals court recently ruled that dismissal does not automatically mean “dismissal with prejudice.”

The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Board of Governors (board) supports a petition to authorize and facilitate the use of electronic appellate records, as well as the continued authority of circuit courts to transfer certain civil actions to tribal court.